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Profile:
Distribution :
Lake Tanganyika (Endemic)
Size
: Up to 14 inches for Male, smaller for female. Growth rate appear
to be slow under captivity.
PH
: 8.6 to 9.5
Temperature
: 22 to 29 0 C (higher temperature for breeding).
Hardness
: Hard to very hard, alkaline water.
Diet
: Piscivore. Flake, freeze fried & frozen and pellet food. Live
food such as prawns and earthworms. Not advisable to give them
floating food.
Breeding
: Open polygamous, mouth brooder.
Sexual
Difference :
Males are much larger with longer flowing fins
and well developed nuchal hump (not always accurate).
Description:
This fish lives at
great depths (bottom dweller) in Lake Tanganyika and often suffers
from swim bladders problems for wild caught fishes. They are mostly
restricted to the rocky areas in the wild. They are rather
intolerant of poor water condition and demand regular, frequent
water but small water changes.
It is best to keep
them in groups from small as the males are very intolerant of each
other. Growing them up together has the advantage of establishing
the "pecking" order early to prevent
over-aggressiveness to establish dominance in the tank.
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The dominant
male (or normally called the Alpha Male) is usually the biggest and
often with a obvious nuchal hump. However, to other fishes, Frontosa are fairly peaceful.
Check
out my Frontosa poster
Courtship is rather
low-key. The females only spawned with the dominant male and this
normally happen in the Alpha Male's Cave. After the ritual, the
female with the eggs in her mouth take refuge to brood the eggs.
Therefore for successful spawning, the aquarium would require some
form of "cave" for the male and adequate hiding places for
the female. It
is best to keep these fishes by itself as they are rather easily
harass
by quicker and bigger fishes. There are various strains of Frontosa
ranging from the common Burundi, to Mpimbwe, Ikola, Zaire Blue,
Zambian, Samazi Blue, Kasanga and Kavalla Yellow Dorsal. These are
normally named after the area that they are found as Lake Tanganyika
transit through a few countries in Africa.
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Blue
Zaire
Photo
Courtesy of Cichlids Forever
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I have 7
Frontosas in 1 of my tanks by themselves and personally like the
cool, calm and majestic manner that they present
themselves. They can be quite dump and slow to find food.
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Blue
Zaire
Photo
Courtesy of Cichlids Forever
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